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Lookups on the same HIFLD / USFA extract as department and state profiles, drawn from 32,253 US fire departments. For informational purposes; does not constitute fire-safety or insurance advice.
According to USFA/NFIRS · extract 2026
According to USFA National Fire Statistics in this extract, California leads reported annual fires at 168,000 (#1 of 51) while West Virginia leads the per-million fire-death rate at 31.1 (#1 of 51); California's death-rate rank on that ladder is #40.
- 168,000
- California fires (#1 of 51)
- 31.1
- West Virginia deaths/million (#1 of 51)
- #40
- California death-rate rank
- 4.2
- Hawaii deaths/million (lowest)
Volume rank is not death-rate rank. NFIRS participation varies by state. Registry figures, not a safety grade. For informational purposes; does not constitute fire-safety or insurance advice.
PlainFireData tools query the same 32,253-department federal extract as the department and state profiles. Pennsylvania leads departments at 2,427 (#1 of 55) while West Virginia leads the per-million death rate at 31.1 (#1 of 51) — the state with the most departments is not the state with the highest burden. These utilities put a place or scenario in context; they do not present a local hazard or insurance grade.
- Shared corpus: HIFLD + USFA + FEMA AFG/SAFER
- Departments #1 Pennsylvania ≠ death-rate #1 West Virginia
- Data vintage as of September 2026
Choose the right starting point
Two questions, two different tools
Start with the decision you need to make. These utilities complement the department and state registers; they do not replace local emergency instructions or professional assessments.
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What prevention steps can I check at home today?
Home Fire Safety Score
- You provide
- Ten household-prevention questions
- You get
- A checklist tally with next steps
Not a professional risk assessment or emergency guidance.
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Where should I check official wildfire information for my state?
Wildfire information finder
- You provide
- A two-letter US state code
- You get
- Direct links to federal incident and preparedness sources
It does not estimate parcel, county, or evacuation risk.
Tools hub by purpose
Exclusive partition of the 2 tools on this hub. Parts sum to the hub total.
Download the fire-department landscape extract cited on this page: fire-department-landscape.csv (HIFLD / USFA / FEMA public records).
What a department lookup can verify
Every department has a record, not every one has the same depth
PlainFireData indexes 32,253 fire departments from the HIFLD federal registry. A department lookup always returns the base record, but operational detail and FEMA grant history are reported for a smaller, honestly-declining share.
- Departments in the registry 100% 32,253
Every department a lookup accepts has a base record from the HIFLD federal registry.
- Departments with operational data on file 73% 23,425
Staffing, station count, or vehicle counts reported for this share of the registry.
- Departments with personnel counts on file 70% 22,440
A department lookup returns a specific staffing figure for this share.
- Departments with a FEMA AFG/SAFER grant on file 9% 3,015
FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant or SAFER award history is reported for this share.
Source: HIFLD fire department registry + USFA state fire statistics + FEMA AFG/SAFER award extract.
Explore the data
These tools draw on the same federal HIFLD, USFA, and FEMA datasets that power the rest of plainfiredata. Dig into the source data directly:
Every staffing, station, grant, and fire-incident figure on PlainFireData is rendered from HIFLD (DHS/CISA), USFA, and FEMA AFG public records, no number is typed in by an editor. Tool outputs query the same HIFLD department registry, USFA state fire statistics, and FEMA AFG award rows that power department and state profiles. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2026.